536 
SOCIETY MEETINGS. 
or alteration of normal gait, they should be disposed of accord¬ 
ing to the appearance of the cicatrix. 
Carpitis is the most serious as well as the most common city 
lameness, and in an examination for soundness is dealt with as 
a lameness, by prompt condemnation. 
Synovitis. —With the exception of acute, circumscribed, 
traumatic synovitis, which will abort in a few days, all animals 
thus affected must be condemned. This name suggests a vari¬ 
ety of special conditions with locations of equal variance, all of 
which might be dismissed as very serious conditions from the 
standpoint of the veterinary examiner. 
Sprain op' the Superior Carpal Ligament. —A sprain of this 
structure could not be detected in the absence of lameness. 
Mallenders is a chronic eczema, very refractory to medica¬ 
tion or any form of treatment, and is therefore serious and an 
unsoundness. 
Serous Abscesses are the result of violence, and, as they re¬ 
spond promptly to treatment, and leave no bad effect, might be 
overlooked under the proper circumstances. 
DISCUSSION. 
Dr. Quitman : I did not quite understand the essayist in re¬ 
gard to shoe-boils. Does not a shoe-boil, even if trivial, attract 
the attention to the animal’s feet ? The animal will apparently 
bring pressure on the back parts of the heel, and will probably 
bend up the heel to relieve pressure. I do not believe I am 
overdrawing when stating that between 60 and 75 per cent, of 
all shoe-boils are caused by sore feet. 
Dr. Merillat: The querist has evidently misunderstood the 
paragraph on shoe-boil, so I will re-read it if the Secretary will 
kindly hand me the manuscript: u Capped Elbows or Shoe Boils 
are either hygromata or fibromata. The latter constitute an 
unsoundness, while the former may be so trivial as to scarcely 
warrant such a decision. A large hygroma inclosed in a thick 
wall is of course serious, and must be dealt with accordingly, 
and besides it must not be forgotten that these tumors are very 
prone to recur because of the difficulty of removing the cause.” 
That is to say, all shoe-boils should be considered sufficient rea¬ 
son for condemning a horse except the slightest hygromata. 
And even these should be accepted reluctantly because of their 
liability to relapse. Dr. Quitman’s argument that 75 % per cent, 
of animals having shoe-boils also have sore feet is probably true, 
because such animals lie down a great deal, and are therefore 
more susceptible, and besides horses with contracted feet are apt 
